Announcing your 2023 Westfield Local Hero

We are excited to announce Ronda Amende from TimeOut Charitable Trust as your 2023 Westfield Local Hero for Albany!
Westfield is proud to award a community grant of $20K to help Ronda and TimeOut Charitable Trust to continue to grow their impact in the local community

The 2023 Westfield Local Heroes program will award 126 grants across Australia and New Zealand – totalling $1.26 million to support local communities.

Nominations for the 2024 Westfield Local Heroes program open 10 October. If you know someone who's making an impact, nominate them as a Westfield Local Hero - nominate here.

Your 2023 Westfield Albany Local Hero is:

Ronda Amende

TimeOut Charitable Trust

Inspiring. Selfless. Resilient.

Resilient Ronda Amende devotes her energy to giving hundreds of families free holidays after a loved one is diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Ronda is the founder and Chair of the TimeOut Charitable Trust, which enables owners of holiday homes to gift people with terminal illness a temporary sanctuary to share with their family.

Ronda set up the charity in 2016 after a friend gave her and her family a free stay in their holiday home after she was diagnosed with life-limiting cancer. The Amende family still cherish this support during their difficult time.

Most gift recipients are referred by local support organisations and may not otherwise have the opportunity to spend special time away with their family.
Ronda has captured the imagination of many generous donors who feel blessed by the opportunity to help. TimeOut now has over 150 holiday homes nationwide.

A reward for Ronda is the thank you notes she receives from families recalling how their time away strengthened them and gave them memories to cherish after their loved one had passed away.

Ronda was a Westfield Local Hero in 2021 and says it feels incredible to be nominated again. “TimeOut shows families of loved ones with terminal illness that the community is here to support them.”

TimeOut will use its grant to double the number of stays it can facilitate.

We'd like to thank and acknowledge our finalists who will receive a $5K grant for the organisation they represent...

Julie King from Love Soup NZ

Generous Julie has devoted the past 10 years to providing tens of thousands of meals to hungry North Shore people and keeping tones of food from landfill. Julie is the founder of Love Soup NZ, which feeds more than 500 people a week. Last year alone, she saved 500,000kg of surplus food.

Morgan Goodwin from Youthline Auckland Charitable Trust

Empathetic Morgan Goodwin is dedicated to helping local young people live their best life. Morgan is a Youth Development Worker at Youthline Auckland Charitable Trust, where she listens and acts without judgment to help people with their overall hauora. She also helps with the practicalities of job seeking, driving lessons and accessing funds.

If you need support, please phone Lifeline Aotearoa: 0800 543 354

Recognising all our 2023 nominees

View all of the Westfield Albany nominees and their organisations